Taking ways - never borrow, never lend...

There is a Shakespearean quotation which I wanted to use this week. It goes like this. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be..." Or maybe "Never borrow never lend. For he that lendeth loses both principal and friend." Or some such thing... but I can't check.

The person who borrowed my Dictionary of Quotations ("Just for a day, Peter!") has vanished, with the book. Which confirms the proverb's warning.

But lending and borrowing are the cornerstones of our modern economy. No one could afford to buy the things they buy without those attractive loan offers. 'Drive a brand new XXXX Deluxe Now! for just Rs.101/-...'
OK! I am exaggerating. But that is the spirit of Easy Purchase. 'Only Rs.1001/- now!' (Plus1001 monthly installments!)

But I digress. I was talking about friend-to-friend loans. My foolproof lending policy was 'Don't lend anything, unless you can afford to write it off'.

That takes care of the money angle. But it doesn't heal the sense of betrayal when you lose a friend! (Cynics would say you are better off without such friends, but it niggles.)

And the greater your generosity, the more you become the villain in the mind of the defaulter.)
Reasons given for requesting a loan sound so convincing, it would be heartless not to 'loan' everything you have.

The more convincing borrowers can even get you to pledge yourself into debt in order to meet their demands. (I mean 'requests'. They always sound so sincere. So embarrassed.)

Our neighbourhood barber built a house on 'short term' loans. ('You are the only person I can ask, Sir.') He finished the construction by pulling the same fast one on all his customers.

Then there was the man whose wife had got a job as a nurse abroad. He just needed a loan to pay for her ticket (only till she got her travel re-imbursement). I gave. He vanished. But I met her, still very much in town 6 months later.u00a0 He stays vanished.

A man, I thought I knew well, went around facilitating rural women's SHGs (Self Help Groups). He always emphasised the importance of repaying loans on time so that the next person got a chance. But I shouldn't have been surprised when he took a distress loan from me, which he never returned accusing me of making false claims.
Yes... Never borrow. Never lend. Or lose both principal and friend! Lesson well learnt!